On a Tuesday Afternoon

My school has been pretty much silent for most of today.  Grades 4, 5 and 6 all went to the Yeosu Expo and left us subject teachers behind.  It's nice having a day to do nothing ... although, I think would have liked to use this day to clean up the apartment and do the dishes.  They are all waiting for me in the sink with their groupie fruit flies (gag). 

But instead of doing useful things around my house I spent some time loving on my sock yarn blanket, which has grown from the 3.5 squares I showed you in my last post to a whopping 59 squares.  Only 697 left before I'm done!  I'm really hoping that Santa brings me a whole bunch of mini skeins this Christmas. 

The toilet paper was the only thing I could find to use for scale.

I also got to spend some time chatting with two of my dearest friends back home.  Both of them have been dealing with some crap, so we talked about that.  And then we talked about all of the overwhelming feelings I am having about packing up and leaving Korea.  I love my friends so much ... no matter what is going on in their own lives they always manage to make time to make me feel better about all my first world problems. 

As freaked out as I am by the thought of moving  back home for good, I am also really looking forward to it.  I will miss a lot of what Korea has to offer in the job world (low responsibility, low work load, afternoons free, no paperwork, great salary) but there are a lot of things that I am looking forward to never dealing with again.  Like how this morning, the Office of Education sent out an email stating that they were going to change the way the end of contract bonuses will be paid and that it is going into effect for next month (when the bonuses are supposed to be paid) and will effect everyone who is staying regardless of the fact that they signed a contract 12 months ago that says they will get the bonus next month.  Because who really wants to be able to plan on things like bonuses, anyway?  Losers, that's who.

Also, I'm really looking forward to eating some good Mexican food.

It's raining, it's pouring ...

Lucky for me there is no old man in my apartment snoring.

Even the baby across the hall who cries all the time (I feel so bad for both bebe and parents) is being quiet today.

I found out yesterday that my sinus infection has turned into bronchitis.  On doctor's order I've stayed home the last two days to rest.  It's been lovely.  Other than the coughing part ... I could live without that.

I finished up my April knitting project ... a bebe blanket for another dear friend who is expecting.  So today will be spent figuring out what to knit for May.  Maybe some new hand mitts for my mom.  Or a stuffed something-or-other for my god-bebe.  I think it might be her turn.

Gone 'Round the Bend

Two things:
1.  I'm sick again.  (This should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever known me in real life).

2.  I have gone round the bend.  No joke.  And I have the photos to prove it:

It finally happened.  About 6 months after Stephanie started her sock yarn blanket (rav link) I start mine.  That Stephanie is a bad influence.  Everything she does I end up doing.  But, I guess if I'm going to get peer pressured into doing something I guess it's better to knit socks than do something stupid like get hooked on heroin.

So.  This blanket is not heroin.  So why do I think this is an insane thing?

Because these squares are about 7 centimeters across (just shy of 3 inches) and I want to make a blanket that will cover a big person.  So, if the short end of my blanket is as wide as a twin bed (which is about 99 centimeters) that means that I have to knit 14 of these bad boys.

I know that you're thinking that 14 doesn't sound like a lot of squares.  But let us also consider that a twin bed is 190 centimeters long which means that on top of those first 14 squares, I have to add another 27.  And then I have to fill the whole thing in for a grand total of 378 squares 756 squares.  If it takes me an average of 30 minutes to knit a square (while watching a Downton Abbey, of course) that means that I will be spending approximately 189 hours 378 hours of my life knitting this blanket.

That, my friends, is a lot of knitting.

So, let's recap:

1. Sickness = so not news.

2. Blanket = insane.

3. Super Awesome .GIF = made at makeagif.com

4. Caroline = good at math today (woo!).

Looking Forward ...

In no particular order, here are something things that I am looking forward to in the next few weeks:

• Consistently warmer weather.
• Running more.
• Finishing the baby blanket that I am knitting and ...
• Shipping it off and ...
• Hopefully knitting another baby something to go with it.
• Keeping up with my newest project 750 Words (you should all get on that bandwagon)
• Going through the apartment and packing things to start sending home.
• Payday!!  For obvious reasons and also because it means that I get to ...
• Order yarn for my sweater knit along with my knitting friend Stephanie.

This is the sweater and the yarn I want to knit it in.  GAH.  Just even thinking about it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Levenwick (rav link)

Madelinetosh Vintage Tosh in Well Water

Have you ever knit something with Madelintosh Vintage Tosh?  Because if you haven't, and you happen to be a knitter, you really should fix that.  It's is something of the most wonderful yarn on this little planet.  SO soft and warm and the drape ... don't even get me started.  Just don't do it.

Ryan thinks it's super itchy which is just so sad for him and also makes me so happy that I am not wool sensitive at all.  This is the same kind of yarn I used when I knitted Brian's sweater and I have been dieing to knit with it again.

I mean look at that.  LOOK AT IT.  The color ... the drape ... the fabulousness of it all.  And for anyone that's interested, that sweater is The Cobblestone Sweater (rav link) by Jared Flood with Madelinetosh Vintage Tosh in Fig.

Yup.  That's what I'm looking forward to the most.  New yarn.  And also getting to knit that sweater while watching quality programming like Downton Abbey.  Really, the only thing missing from all of this about 16 cats.

Korea is a Silly Place Episode 2: You Want What Now?

This is an actual conversation that I had with my co-teacher the morning I ended up going to the doctor about the stabby hurty:

Caroline: "Hey, are you doing anything this afternoon?"
Mrs. Kim: "I have a meeting after our last class, why?"
C: "I have a pain and I want to go to the hospital." (For those of you who don't live in Korea, they go to the hospital for everything.  It's like when we go to the walk in clinic at the doctor's office.)
K: "You have a pain?  Where is it?"
C: "It's here.  It hurts when I move certain ways and when I cough or sneeze and I want to make sure it's not my appendix."
K: "Your what?"
C:  "It's a thing on your intestines.  Anyway, I want to go to the hospital."
K:  "Ok, do you have an appointment?"
C:  "Uh ... no.  I don't speak Korean."  (She knows this.)
K:  "Well, which hospital do you want to go to?"
C:  "I don't know.  I was hoping you could help me with that."
K:  "Do you want to see my husband?"  (Her husband is a surgeon.)
C:  "No, I just want to talk to a doctor to make sure that I am ok."
K:  "So ..." She looks confused.  "You want to go to the hospital but you have no appointment?"

Pause while I think about how to rephrase my request for her to help me go to the hospital.

C:  "I know an English speaking doctor.  I will just go to him."
K:  "Yes, I think that would be best."

END SCENE.

Love/Hate/Overworked/Look what I got!

There are days when I am absolutely, madly in love with Korea.  Days when it can do no wrong.  The weather is perfect, my kids are happy, my co-workers make me laugh.

There are days when I am not so in love.  Days when I would give anything to be able to walk into a store and buy come frosting in a can.  Or maybe some vanilla extract.  Or some black beans.  Or green beans.  Good beer.  Pork chops.  Or being able to find nice specialty shops, like {nice} yarn shops.  OH THE YARN SHOPS.

This week I have been overloaded with work from a special project I have volunteered to help out with.  I didn't realize that it would be this much work when I signed up.  I have been feeling slightly under valued while being horribly overworked.  I'm pretty sure that I have already worked over 40 hours this week - normal working hours plus all the extra time I'm putting into this other project - and it's only Wednesday.

I asked the other people who are involved to help me out - that I am on the verge of being burnt out.  I'm sure they will come through.  They are good people.  This is a good project.  I'm jazzed to be a part of it; I'm just hating the amount of work that I have had to do in one week. 

The work has made me horribly cranky.  I have no patience for some people ... some students too.  I feel angry and sad and tired and empty all at the same time.  But I know that this week will never repeat itself (I am going to make damn sure of that).  This is a one time push and then it's easy street for the rest of the project.

I will show you what I've been working on, I promise.  I am too impressed with myself to not show you.  But that is a post for another day because I'm still not done working on it.

On a happier note, I got a fish!  She is a betta.  Her name is Star Shine.  She lives in a big jar.  She likes to stare at me when I eat breakfast.  Long story short: she totally rocks.

Ouchy Stabby

Last week I had a bit of a health scare.

The short version of it is that I coughed one day and it hurt.  Really hurt.  Like, stabby pain in the area where my appendix likes to hang out.  When the pain didn't go away after a few days I took myself to the only English speaking doctor I know of in Gwangju (he's in the university backgate area - email me if you need the info) to see if I was going to die from a ruptured appendix needed to worry.  I ended up getting a sonogram of my entire torso and the happy news that my appendix was totally not trying to kill me.

As of now I still don't have an official diagnosis of the stabby pain.  But Ryan (being the sporty guy he is) had me do some stretches and we are both pretty sure that I just pulled a muscle.

 Fact:  When you are an expat in Korea you will drink.  You will drink like you have never drunk (drank?) before since university. 

Fact:  Drinking like you are still at university won't do much for your girlish figure.

Bonus fact:  You will also start calling college university because no one from outside the US will know what you are talking about if you don't.

I decided that I didn't like the direction my waist was going (out and over the top of my pants) so a couple of weeks ago I decided that I would join a bootcamp.  I'm pretty sure that the super intense ab workouts we did were the cause of my stabby pain.

The best part of all of this?  The doctor declared that my liver function is normal.  Which I wasn't worried about but is always reassuring to hear from a medical professional.  Especially when you live in Korea.

AND I now have a foot long print out of crappy sonogram pictures of my insides!  I'm thinking I might frame them - but I'm open to suggestions.